Peres singled out for honor in Olympic opening ceremony

Last update - 01:45 08/08/2008    
 Peres singled out for honor in Olympic opening ceremony 
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent  
 
President Shimon Peres will meet today with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao. Although hundreds of world leaders have been invited to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, only eight have been afforded this honor, including the presidents of the United States, Russia and France.

 

Peres told Haaretz on Thursday during the flight to Beijing that he plans to discuss the Iranian nuclear program in the meeting. "The Chinese have a more advanced position than Russia. They are not enthusiastic about sanctions but have not prevented them."

 

Peres plans to tell his host that Iran constitutes a world danger but said "Israel should not make Tehran an Israeli problem but a global problem. It is important to reach an East-West understanding regarding Iran."
 
 
Peres also said he does not believe Sino-Israeli relations were damaged by Israeli consent to a U.S. request that Israel stop defense cooperation with China. "The Chinese are practical. They do not operate in anger. They realize there is a lot of room for cooperation with Israel and are interested in that."

 

The Chinese, Peres said, are particularly interested in cooperation in agriculture and medicine and consider Israel very advanced in both fields.

 

Peres' schedule during his three-day visit includes meetings with other world leaders.